Jess and Amy
by In Love with the Stars
Summary: Nick's new girlfriend is not a fan of Jess.
1. Chapter 1

It was hot. The summer was just as predicted: dry, crusty, with sun beating down on the earth like a waxy lamp. Cece peered from under her black shades and stared at Jess, who was sitting lazily near the pool, her tiny toes dipped under the water. Jess sighed and returned Cece's glance, both communicating a sigh of frustration. Jess impatiently sipped her iced tea (with a lemon wedge on the side, just how she liked it) and played with the strings of her red polka-dot bikini. Her attention was on a spider crawling up the side of the pool. Aggravated, she inched farther up the chalky pavement, her skin burning pink.

Cece rolled her eyes. "Are you afraid of the spider, Jess?"

Jess shook her head. She would not give into Cece. Reluctantly, she forced her slim body into the water gradually, shrieking as the freezing water made its way up to her stomach. Gritting her teeth, she stared at Cece, her wide blue eyes twinkling equally with fear and triumph. "See?" she pointed out, rolling her toes, trying not to chip the polish. Her lips broke into a huge, parted smile and she gestured her position, a feet's radius from the crawly creature.

Shaking her head, Cece helped herself to a lemon roll, which was sitting in a pile on her fancy china plate.

Jess yawned and stared at the bug, squinting. Her eyes attached to the place where its legs stuck to the edge. Then, out of nowhere, the spider detached itself and spun into the water, moving in the current. Jess's eyes suddenly looked like they were going to pop out of her head as the little insect got closer to her. Screaming, she jumped violently out of the water and scraped her knee, landing perfectly out of the spider's reach. "Ow," she whispered, wincing, her fingers smoothing over the dead skin that was lying in a thin flap.

Cece laughed. "You OK, Jess?"

"Fine, Cece," Jess grumbled, finally forcing herself to stand up. Why am I such an idiot? She thought, her fingers curling around the creamy roll, saliva bubbling in her mouth in order to get a bite. Truthfully, the real reason she went to hang out with Cece was to avoid Nick's new girlfriend, Amy. Amy seemed like Nick's type: blonde hair that framed her shoulders in wispy curls, gray eyes, and smooth, subtle skin that smelled like soap. She reminded Jess of Caroline, mostly. Nick's type was only obvious to her: pretty, not too girlish. Jess frowned at that last part, her white teeth slicing through the vanilla crème and fancy lemons. What was wrong with girly?

"She's a bitch," Cece said, reading her mind. Her attention went to a piece of sugar-free mint gum that she was trying to fish out of her purse. "Her face is so…plain, Jess. You could see her in a crowd and not even notice her."

Jess's stomach grumbled, and all a sudden she felt a sharp pang in her chest. She was so used to the model's reassuring words that sometimes they just went right through her. Jess would never admit it, but she felt a pang of jealousy for Cece. She could get any guy she wanted. She was perfect and funny and guys took her seriously, while every morning Jess woke up with burning eyes and greasy hair, made her way to the kitchen island, and somehow always ended up the butt of their jokes. She liked the way she was. Except…

She wanted Nick to like her, too.

Frowning, Jess plopped down on the white chair next to Cece's, her brown hair now a tangled mess tumbling down her shoulders. Her pale porcelain legs folded up underneath her into butterfly position, and she briefly tried to just focus on her surroundings. Summer. Warm sky. Pools. Girl time with Cece.

And in Jess's perfect world, kisses with Nick.

In a way, Nick had snuck up on her, made her feel there and then that it all came crashing down on her in one moment. She realized she wanted him when he came back. When he slid up against the door and grinned at her, making her insides melt. But when she spent the moving day trying to limn a tactic to confess to him, he showed up with the tall blonde girl he met at the convenience store. After that, Jess shut up her room, ate cupcakes, and watched Dirty Dancing for two days straight.

That had been two weeks ago. Now, Nick and Amy were doing overnight visits, eating breakfast together, and slowly… Nick started forgetting Jess existed. He was never around to get a drink with her, cook breakfast with her, or even watch the game with her, like he used to. Jess was never really interested in the game, though. She was more interested in the way her roommate slouched over on the plump couch, his dark colored eyes strained on the screen, blurting out cuss words now and then as the game went on. She liked that routine with him. She liked that he was there.

Now, it seemed, he didn't even have time to be her friend anymore.

Jess picked up her tote, gave Cece a small wave, and left, still just in her polka-dot two piece. She didn't care enough to change. In fact, she barely uttered a word as she made her way to her car, her lip biting repeatedly, sadness closing in on her and making it difficult to breathe. A distraction, she thought. I need a distraction. Her skinny fingers toyed with the sound system and once the radio was blasting at full beat, she could finally relax.


	2. IMPORTANT author's note

Well, this isn't a chapter, just wanted to fill you in on this story.

I've created a new fanfiction account (lipstickstainedcoffeecups) and will be transitioning into using it on Friday. I have multiple chapters of a New Girl story completed and I will post the chapters one by one. I have to wait because of the whole spam requirements. I was going to abandon this story, but I got a lot of positive feedback on it, which compels me to finish it. I honestly wasn't expecting anyone to like it, but I feel an obligation to finish it since many of you did. So, school is ending in two weeks, so there's a lot on my plate. Also, it's going to be very hard to juggle finishing this story along with continuing my next one. Also, I have writer's block. I promise I will keep this story in mind and update as soon as I possibly can. Once the story's complete, I will no longer use this account. I will not delete of course, since that would be unfair to any of you who genuinely enjoyed it. The story's not going anywhere, just me.

Also, if any of you are interested: on my new account, late Thursday night or Friday, I will be posting the first chapter of my newest fic. I've written four chapters, total, but I want to see how people like it before I post the rest. Obviously, I'm new to fanfiction and I have a lot of room to improve, but I'm really proud of my latest story, since I spent a lot of time on it and really pushed myself to write it well. I've spent hours total writing, revising, and reviewing, so hopefully it will be of good quality. I honestly want to contribute something good, because unfortunately for the New Girl fandom we have very few people writing fics.

So, I just threw a lot out there, but here's the synopsis: I plan to update, I will leave this account, but do expect to see this story finished. Thank you so much for your comments and reviews!


	3. Frisbee

"Hey, Jess!" Nick saluted her as she walked in that evening, the sun still having a dry effect. He then squinted at her attire. "Jess, why are you wearing a bikini?"

Finally, after throwing her bag on the carpet next to the door and checking her hair in the mirror, she acknowledged his presence. "I was just swimming, dummy."

His chuckles were so familiar. There was no doubt some good humor in there, grumpiness, even some pretentiousness, but there was also a quality she could never quite identify. There was something between loyalty and care, something the English language probably didn't have a word for. Then again, Nick was unlike anyone she'd ever met, so of course she was lost when it came to deciphering him. But a little mystery never hurt anyone.

"You were swimming at six o'clock?" he asked, doubtful, taking a swig of his beer. After finishing swimming with Cece at promptly two o'clock, Jess had cruised around town, and settled on eating at the Olive Garden and watching some sappy chick flick. She had been trying to cheer herself up, and, as she looked at Nick with his turtle-face and her own self smiling in the mirror, she realized it had worked.

"No, two. Cece and I got lunch afterward."

"Whilst wearing a bikini?"

She blushed and drew tiny little circles with her thumb. She actually had walked into those places wearing a bikini. It was California, and it was hot, and for the most part, it was common. At least, where she lived. But she blushed and drew in a deep breath. "Nick, you seriously need to get out more."

"Jess, please, I get out plenty."

She rolled her eyes. "So what was on your agenda for today?"

He slowly took another sip of his beer and gave her a meaningful glance. "Not much. Woke up at noon. Ate lunch. Took a nap until three. Worked a short shift at the bar until five. I was supposed to go spend the night at Amy's, but she had to work late at the office."

Again, Jess was tempted to roll her eyes, but she forced them to stay facing his liquid brown ones that seemed to want a response. She sighed. "Nick, what's up with your office types? Do you have some fifteen-year-old sex fantasy you want to fulfill?

He laughed. He stretched his arms as he spoke. "I think it's just a coincidence, Jess, but thank you for having a formed statement on my taste in women."

"Anytime," she said, and then sat on the carpet. She hugged her legs and placed her head between her knees. She winced as she accidentally brushed her bruised knee. Nick's eyes grew big with concern.

"Jess, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Nick. I just scraped my knee."

"How?"

"Nothing, just… I hopped out of the pool too quickly."

"Spider?"

"Shut up."

It was funny how well he knew her. Scary, even. Few people actually new what truly made Jess tick, but he seemed to see right through her. She was an open book that he'd reread a hundred times.

Jess just wished she was the kind of book he read when he went to bed, quoted a thousand times, and even watched the sucky film adaptation made for it. Maybe he could even write in a few of his own lines. Jess started to notice how badly she wanted him, how achy she felt when he wasn't around.

When it all came down to it, they were roommates. There was nothing stable about that. He could get a job in Pennsylvania and be flown there within a week. All Jess wanted was to secure him, to know he'd always be around. To be able to have a say in his life choices, in their life choices. But Nick was thirty and could very well marry Amy and have kids with her, and then what? Her head throbbed. Would she stay in the loft? Did it even matter when he wasn't there?

Jess couldn't imagine living with just Schmidt and Winston. They were just like her family, but it didn't seem right. Nick was the only one she'd developed a true connection to, and why? Because they both went through sucky breakups? Their relationship was doomed to the start. But Nick created some sort of balance in her life. He pulled her down to earth when her head was too up in the clouds. He completed her.

It was absolutely heartbreaking to think she was the only one who felt this way.

Maybe he's my Frisbee, she thought, sucking in her lips. Maybe, no matter what happens, he'll always come back. No matter what direction he's thrown, he'll find his way back to me.

That was the only way to deal with it.


End file.
